Most women – 87 per cent according to a recent study – can't name a single symptom of ovarian cancer, which kills many thousands of women in the UK each year.

Early diagnosis

But the earlier the disease is diagnosed, the better the outcome.

In fact, for women diagnosed with early stage disease the five-year survival rate is more than 90 per cent, but less than a third of cases are diagnosed this early.

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For late stage cases, the five-year survival rate drops to around 10 per cent.

Although most women diagnosed with the disease are over the age of 50, it can affect younger women too.

Symptoms

Louise Bayne, chief executive of Ovacome, an information and support network with its own dedicated nurse-run helpline, wants women to familiarise themselves with the symptoms.

'Our BEAT Ovarian Cancer campaign aims to tell every woman in the UK that this is not a silent killer, and they can BEAT Ovarian Cancer by listening to their bodies, spotting subtle but distinct changes and getting help at an early stage,' she says.

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BEAT stands for:

Bloating

Eating less and feeling fuller

Abdominal pain

Tell your GP.

Women should be particularly concerned if these symptoms are frequent, happening more than 12 times a month; persistent and don't go away, and are new to them.

Awareness

Doctors too need to put ovarian cancer higher up the list when it comes to investigating these symptoms.

'In our view, the medical profession also has some work to do to raise awareness of the symptoms with their patients and to listen seriously to women who present with problems that could be linked to ovarian cancer,' says Louise Bayne.

A simple blood test – the CA125 – can check for tumour markers. This can mean the difference between recovery and a terminal diagnosis.

Christine Turner

Christine Turner, 52, a children's community nurse in Taunton in Somerset, never thought she had ovarian cancer when she went to her GP in December 2011 complaining of bloating and constipation.

'She printed me off a diet sheet for IBS and I went home. It never occurred to me that my symptoms could be anything gynaecological because it seemed to be a problem with my tummy. I cut out wheat and other foods from my diet which did help to reduce the bloating and pain for a while.'

But six months later, Christine, who has two children, Georgina aged 17 and 13-year-old Adam, was rushed to A&E suffering from acute pain in her right lower back.

'I woke up in the middle of the night with excruciating pains. My husband took me to hospital and they thought I probably had a kidney stone. I was given a CT scan which showed a mass around my ovaries.'

Twenty-four hours later, Christine was in an operating theatre having both her ovaries, uterus, appendix and cervix removed as well as lymph nodes from her abdomen.

'It was very drastic and was a terrible shock. One day I had tummy pains – the next I had a life-threatening disease.'

Christine was diagnosed with stage 3A ovarian cancer, just one below stage 4, which is the most serious form. Luckily for her, surgery followed by six cycles of chemotherapy, managed to get rid of the tumour.

Now, 18 months later, it has not recurred, although she has pains in her joints and suffers from hot flushes, related to lower hormone levels following surgery.

Christine will also need to be monitored for the rest of her life.

'I am angry that my GP did not refer me for tests earlier, but I also did not know the symptoms of ovarian cancer to make sure she checked,' says Christine, who is now back at work and runs Cancer Research UK's women-only fundraising Race for Life every year.

'I've been very lucky – it could have been much worse – but I'll never know if it would have turned out better if they diagnosed me when I first noticed the symptoms.'

She advises women not to follow her lead and remain ignorant of the facts.

'Memorise BEAT and make sure you tell your doctor if you have a concern.'

Get online

Women can also use an online symptom trackerwhich makes it easier for them to record when they have a problem so they can present a full history at a medical examination.

'This is a useful tool to help women record what kind of symptoms they have and when they occur. Otherwise, it is easy to lose track,' says Louise Bayne.

It only takes a couple of minutes to set up the personalised tracker and it is easy to upload information. The data can then be printed off to take to your doctor.

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Reviewed by
David Maxton
and Dr Jeff Butterworth, Gastroenterologist

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